09-12-2009, 01:13 PM
I have just received my copy of Liber Novus/The Red Book. It is huge (bigger and heavier than a Chef's chopping board and thus not easy to hold and read - but it can be managed with a bit of thought.
The book comes in two parts. The first parts is a faithful reproductions of Jung's handwritten Red & Black books that are beautifully presented and which are full of magnificent paintings and illuminated copper-plate script, minature paintings and large haunting and wonderful paintings. The text is in copper-plate hand in German, Latin and Greek (so far as I can make out anyway). The second part is a painstaking English translation of the first part with numerous and intriguing references and bookmarks.
It is clear from my early reading thus far that this book was Jung's diary of his personal interactions with his Soul and Spirit of the Depths and completely details his inner journey throughout his life. The book is incomplete in that being what it was it could never be completed. The last few pages are prepared for illuminations and small paintings with the text already in place but the illuminations were only partially completed or not completed at all.
For those who can afford to pay (or justify) the $100 odd cost (and for me it a one-off exception) I highly recommend it, as it provides a unique, fascinating and enlightening insight into the inner journey of one of the great men of the 20th century.
The book comes in two parts. The first parts is a faithful reproductions of Jung's handwritten Red & Black books that are beautifully presented and which are full of magnificent paintings and illuminated copper-plate script, minature paintings and large haunting and wonderful paintings. The text is in copper-plate hand in German, Latin and Greek (so far as I can make out anyway). The second part is a painstaking English translation of the first part with numerous and intriguing references and bookmarks.
It is clear from my early reading thus far that this book was Jung's diary of his personal interactions with his Soul and Spirit of the Depths and completely details his inner journey throughout his life. The book is incomplete in that being what it was it could never be completed. The last few pages are prepared for illuminations and small paintings with the text already in place but the illuminations were only partially completed or not completed at all.
For those who can afford to pay (or justify) the $100 odd cost (and for me it a one-off exception) I highly recommend it, as it provides a unique, fascinating and enlightening insight into the inner journey of one of the great men of the 20th century.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14